19th Grand Dushahra Festival celebrated in Edison

Edison, NJ: A record crowd of 15,000 came together to celepate the festival of Dushahra last Saturday at Lake Papaianni Park, Edison. Amid cheers and applause, the menacing Ravan effigy burst into flames to celepate the” Victory of good over evil”. This was followed by a spectacular display of fireworks!

The grand event was inaugurated by the Chief Guest South Indian actress Aditi Agarwal along with Esha Vyas, Mayor Lankey, Senator Thompson, former legislator Upendra Chivukula, accompanied by Indo-American Festivals’ Chairperson Chanchal Gupta, President Raj Mittal, and Vice President Atul Sharma.

The festival started with a colorful cultural program with dance performances and music showcasing the classical and modern art forms from various parts of India. Food vendors sold crowd favorites. from Raffle prizes included tickets to India.

The mainstay of the free event was the dazzling Ram Leela presented by Navrang Dance Academy accompanied by a vipant LED screen with spectacular backgrounds. Beautiful Costumes and props along with sound and light effects transported the viewers to a different era.

The Dushahra festival was started in 1999 by the Founder and Chairman, Mangal Gupta in New Jersey and has since grown exponentially to become the Annual Grand Dushahra Festival. Indo-American Festivals’ 3rd Dushahra festival will be held at Lido Beach in Long Island on October 15.